Panel endorses some NSA Internet monitoring

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WASHINGTON - A bipartisan Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board has unanimously adopted a report that endorses some of the National Security Agency's Internet surveillance programs.

The programs provoked worldwide controversy when they were revealed last year by news organizations after leaks from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

The board found that the NSA's targeted collection of Internet data within the United States passes constitutional muster and employs "reasonable" safeguards designed to protect the rights of Americans.

David Medine, a former government privacy lawyer who chairs the board, said NSA's Internet surveillance was found to have been "valuable and effective for protecting the national security and producing foreign intelligence information."